urbanSTL

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

Jan 13, 2025

The Dome may be better off courting the MHSA to move the state championship games to the Dome.

The dome did host the Missouri HS Football championship games from 1996-2015.

https://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/State ... spx?alg=19

Getting back to RockChalk's Bayer idea, football usually gives me a headache, so maybe the Aspirin Bowl?

*ducks*

(Heck, Monsanto even used to have an aspirin division at the Queeny Plant, back in the day. Competing with Bayer, but . . . well . . . you can't win 'em all.) 

New tourism chief wants St. Louis to ‘be a thorn in the side’ of other midsize cities
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/bus ... fe97f.html

"We have to be steadfast and relentless in our efforts to promote St. Louis as a great destination to visit. We're not going to out-spend our competition, according to the budget that I was given [the marketing budget for fiscal 2025 is roughly $20 million], but we can outsmart and outwork the competition. My hope is to be a thorn in the side of some of the other Midwestern cities that compete with us and when they see our sales team coming, I want them to fear St. Louis as a fierce competitor."

F*CK YEAH! GO FOR BLOOD DEAN!

"The expansion did not meet all of the original expectations but we've moved ourselves forward. We have to adapt our strategies in mind of this. For example, we didn't get a bigger ballroom, so for groups that need a bigger ballroom, we're not going to waste our time and public money trying to recruit them to St. Louis. We're gonna look for groups that need what we offer. It's like the Rolling Stones saying, ”You can't always get what you want, you get what you need.”

We’re already beginning to see that for 2025. Admittedly, the pipeline for 2026 isn’t ideal, so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I'm confident that with the team that’s assembled and the strategies that we're going to put in place, that we're gonna see a lift in the future. In fact, I'm betting my career on it."

"When I was doing my research, the worst thing I heard about St. Louis came from St. Louis residents. It was a little surprising to me because as a visitor, I've never felt unsafe or unwelcomed here. I don't necessarily judge that it comes from a place of animosity or hatred, I sense that that's just more disappointment. St. Louis residents are proud of their community and recognize what downtown could be.

While we should honestly talk about the problems we're experiencing, we should not affirm the outside narrative that paints St. Louis in a very unfavorable light."

"We have a lot of underappreciated, underrecognized experiences. Pair that up with the younger generation, who are not just interested in "bucket lists," but true experiences that connect with the community and its people. Something that’s different about the travelers in their 20s and early 30s than my generation, the younger traveler today is looking for curated experiences. Urban exploration is a huge opportunity for us to not just compete, but command.

We're so focused on the Midwest in part due to proximity, and part due to budget. As we are able to make the America’s Center more efficient and financially productive, that will allow us to begin to expand into different markets and different target consumers. I think we can compete really, really well and so my message to my peers in the Midwest is, "Look out. St. Louis is on the move and we're coming for your business."

^
“When I was doing my research, the worst thing I heard about St. Louis came from St. Louis residents.“

Agree with this, people here love to crap on the city. I find it so bizarre. Anytime I have friends come in from out of town they leave impressed.

Half the battle when coworkers from out of town offices come to town is trying to get them to not listen to the people who live here telling them how scary it is to go out at night.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2025

^
“When I was doing my research, the worst thing I heard about St. Louis came from St. Louis residents.“

Agree with this, people here love to crap on the city. I find it so bizarre. Anytime I have friends come in from out of town they leave impressed.

Half the battle when coworkers from out of town offices come to town is trying to get them to not listen to the people who live here telling them how scary it is to go out at night.

I fight the same battle at my workplace.

^ Same.  I work near the new top golf in midtown (and although I don't know if I love that land use for midtown, it is a nice amenity for corporate crap and fun if you like golf) and the amount of co-workers whose first comment is on safety or weather or not anyone would go to this location is shocking to me.  

Busy march and April

Noticeable improvement on TV as well

Just curious if anyone has any insight. As you know, the Dome last hosted a Final 4 in 2005. What kind of renovations & how much money would it take to get the Dome in good enough shape to bid & win events like the Final 4? I was not impressed with the Alamodome & from what I've heard it is nothing special. It is older than the Dome yet they are still winning big events. I know competing with Indy & Nashville type venues is not feasible, but why is the Alamodome beating us out? I know San Antonio has the Riverwalk & better weather, but we've proven we can host a Final 4. Why not St. Louis?!

Second question- Why could the Dome not offer advertisers a good deal to slap their name on the outside of the building to generate 'some revenue'? They put their name on billboards. The Dome could serve as such to advertisers looking for exposure on a large building, from the interstate. I know not having the Rams changed that some, but why is the CVC not adjusting the price for UFL & other event advertising. It just makes the Dome look more alive with some advertising.

^ Id say better video boards inside and then other stuff is mostly back of house like new locker rooms, treatment areas, press rooms, etc 

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Apr 08, 2025

^ Id say better video boards inside and then other stuff is mostly back of house like new locker rooms, treatment areas, press rooms, etc 

If that is the case, there is no reason not to invest in the Dome & start competing for big events. 

The city doesn't have the money to be dumping into the Dome and the County didn't even want to put up its portion for the expansion.

Remember, over the next few years, the city has to up the police budget by some $40M.

Didn’t the dome offer Kroenke $120M in dome improvements? One thing they included was a center hanging video screen. Where did that money go?


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gary kreie wrote: ↑

Apr 08, 2025

Didn’t the dome offer Kroenke $120M in dome improvements? One thing they included was a center hanging video screen. Where did that money go?


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I assume it was contingent on them staying and having income from them to pay for it. They didn’t, so that money doesn’t exist.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... rades.html

$54 million in upgrades planned for the Dome over the next 3 years. The first phase will be $17.4 million next year upgrading elevators, escalators, signs, lighting, mechanical improvements, locker room improvements, and suite improvement. This will be followed by $37.5M for guest experience upgrades and $855k for food service upgrades.

Hopefully they can convince some company to buy the naming rights too.

Auggie wrote: ↑

Jun 11, 2025

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... rades.html

$54 million in upgrades planned for the Dome over the next 3 years. The first phase will be $17.4 million next year upgrading elevators, escalators, signs, lighting, mechanical improvements, locker room improvements, and suite improvement. This will be followed by $37.5M for guest experience upgrades and $855k for food service upgrades.

Hopefully they can convince some company to buy the naming rights too.

The Alamo Dome in San Antonio is older than our Dome.  Yet they just hosted the NCAA finals basketball tournament.  What would it take to upgrade the Dome enough to host the NCAA finals?  We're right smack in the middle of America population-wise.  When we made improvements to the Enterprise Center, I think we asked old event sponsors what it would take to get them back, and then we did those things.  Can we get the Dome brass to do the same?

dweebe wrote: ↑

Jun 11, 2025

gary kreie wrote: ↑

Jun 11, 2025

Auggie wrote: ↑

Jun 11, 2025

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... rades.html

$54 million in upgrades planned for the Dome over the next 3 years. The first phase will be $17.4 million next year upgrading elevators, escalators, signs, lighting, mechanical improvements, locker room improvements, and suite improvement. This will be followed by $37.5M for guest experience upgrades and $855k for food service upgrades.

Hopefully they can convince some company to buy the naming rights too.

The Alamo Dome in San Antonio is older than our Dome.  Yet they just hosted the NCAA finals basketball tournament.  What would it take to upgrade the Dome enough to host the NCAA finals?  We're right smack in the middle of America population-wise.  When we made improvements to the Enterprise Center, I think we asked old event sponsors what it would take to get them back, and then we did those things.  Can we get the Dome brass to do the same?

My guess is St. Louis hasn't put a bid in for it. 

Plus

• the NCAA likes the Texas locations (Houston and San Antonio) because of weather. And there's not much St. Louis can do to battle that. 
• the NCAA is going to favor Indianapolis for its Midwest location because they are HQ'd there.

They gave us a Final 4 in 2005. I would guess if the Done was 1st class we could put in a bid & at least get more big events & a sponsor.

Yes, I should have said "awarded" not 'gave'. 

Here is what comes up on Google AI: 

St. Louis last bid to host the Final Four was in 2014 for the 2017-2021 event cycle. While they were a finalist for the 2017-2020 cycle, they were not selected, and Indianapolis was awarded a Final Four bid for 2014 and 2015. The city had previously hosted the Final Four in 2005

The fact that STL was a finalist after the Rams left in the 17'-21' cycle tells me the Dome could be brought back to a high level. That was only 5-8 years ago. Will it take some work, of course, but it can be done. I am very much against future demo of the Dome. We need a large venue if we are going to compete for the big events. KC has highly utilized their arena (I understand this is a smaller venue that is easier to fill dates in) for a long time without a major league sports tenant. 

The Dome needs a major sponsor to take over the naming rights as well. Amazing to me that they can't find a company that wants to use this building as a giant billboard overlooking downtown & I-70. Even if the CVC has to offer a discount for a company to plaster the building with advertising, that is a lost opportunity for revenue IMO. WWT Park has found a nice balance of major races & mid to smaller events to fill dates there. The Dome definitely has the potential to attract more events than it currently does. 

That is a huge disadvantage for us, especially since Indy is getting huge revenue from NFL & NCAA events. That building is kept at a "top tier" level. The only saving grace is that they can't award every Midwest Final 4 to Indy. The STL Sports Commission has been great at getting events. Frank Viverito has been a big part of that. Too bad the Battlehawks can't get over the hump. Packing 50K for the UFL final would have been a great way for STL to show we can still pack the Dome. It will be a small crowd for the final, just like last year.